Author: Rachel Jones
District: Providence
School: Nathanael Greene Middle School
- Grades 6-8
- 872 students
- 61 teachers
A. Information Works
When you researched the community and district, you were provided tables to help with the task of making sense of the various graphs available on Information Works site. For your school report, you should make sense of the data one your own. Remember that you can email your instructor if you have any difficulties.
To research your school, you should consider the questions about schools that we brainstormed in class and decide on some questions that YOU think should be answered in your description of your school You should research at least four of the indicators on the school report page for your school to gather information that you feel will serve as evidence for your description.
Questions that you would like to find answers for:
- What is the student demographic at NGMS?
- What is the drop out rate at NGMS?
- How many students are ESL students and/or how many students have families that speak another language other than English at home?
- How does this school compare with (in terms of assessment, accountability, student and teacher reports) other schools in Providence and the state of R.I.?
1. Name of Indicator: ASSESSMENTS
Data:
Summary statement:
NGMS seems to be similar to many schools in the Providence area, but behind when you look at data for the state. This graph shows that children fall behind every year in both reading and math. Also, writing scores are tested in grade 8 which seems to be on the low side, with only 44% of children above proficiency or proficient. The performance progress on the RI Works Website indicates that NGMS is about average with schools tested in the state in the area of math, but below compared to the rest of the state in reading and writing. It is disappointing to see scores like this so early on, because it makes it more difficult for students to catch up later in high school. Student characteristics indicate that students living in poverty are more likely to be less proficient in math and reading than their peers who are not living in poverty. Also, something that I found shocking was that 90% of students with disabilities were considered to be not reaching proficiency in math, and 84% were considered to not be reacing proficiency in reading. Also, the two ethinicities that are further behind than their peers are African American and Hispanic students. Asian students are the most proficient ethinicity at this school, followed by Caucasian students. It is evident that by these statistics that NGMS is not preparing their students approperiately for their future, and they will probably face many obstacles in high school because they are not where they should be academically.
2. Name of Indicator: ACCOUNTABILITY
Summary Statement: NGMS is barely meeting its targets for the No Child Left Behind Act. With the exception of students with disabilities, this school met its target in the mathematics category. However, the majority of students did not meet the language arts target. Caucasians are the only ethnicity that are meeting both of the targets, which is disappointing because there is also a decent Hispanic and African American population in the school. Both Hispanic and educationally disadcantaged students are meeting the math requirement, but not the language arts requirement. Students with disabilities are the only group that is not meeting either, and unfortunately, is not even close to the target. I am not sure how this score would compare to other schools, because this could reflect some bias in the test. However, the good news is that NGMS met and went above its participation target. Even though these scores indicate that its students are a little behind, this school was considered to make adequate yearly progress. Furthermore, NGMS was a little behind compared to performance progress in the state of Rhode Island, but not by a significant amount. This data allows us to conclude that NGMS is meeting its NCLB requirements, but just barely.
3. Name of Indicator: STUDENTS' POV
Data:
Summary statement:
4. Name of Indicator: TEACHING PRACTICES
Data:
Summary statement:
B. SALT Reports
In addition to survey data reported in Information Works, the SALT Surveys and the SALT visit report provides an "on the ground" description of what a group of visiting evaluators found while visiting the school for several days. After learning more about the SALT cycle from the link above, review the most recent report for your school and summarize what you find:
Data of last SALT visit: 2006 - 2007
Notes from Report:
- The majority of teachers have taught for 11-20 years.
- The percentage of teachers who responded that students receive instruction in writing skills is 61%.
School Research: Nathanael Greene Middle School
Author: Rachel Jones
District: Providence
School: Nathanael Greene Middle School
- Grades 6-8
- 872 students
- 61 teachers
A. Information Works
When you researched the community and district, you were provided tables to help with the task of making sense of the various graphs available on Information Works site. For your school report, you should make sense of the data one your own. Remember that you can email your instructor if you have any difficulties.To research your school, you should consider the questions about schools that we brainstormed in class and decide on some questions that YOU think should be answered in your description of your school You should research at least four of the indicators on the school report page for your school to gather information that you feel will serve as evidence for your description.
Questions that you would like to find answers for:
- What is the student demographic at NGMS?
- What is the drop out rate at NGMS?
- How many students are ESL students and/or how many students have families that speak another language other than English at home?
- How does this school compare with (in terms of assessment, accountability, student and teacher reports) other schools in Providence and the state of R.I.?
1. Name of Indicator: ASSESSMENTS
Summary statement:
NGMS seems to be similar to many schools in the Providence area, but behind when you look at data for the state. This graph shows that children fall behind every year in both reading and math. Also, writing scores are tested in grade 8 which seems to be on the low side, with only 44% of children above proficiency or proficient. The performance progress on the RI Works Website indicates that NGMS is about average with schools tested in the state in the area of math, but below compared to the rest of the state in reading and writing. It is disappointing to see scores like this so early on, because it makes it more difficult for students to catch up later in high school. Student characteristics indicate that students living in poverty are more likely to be less proficient in math and reading than their peers who are not living in poverty. Also, something that I found shocking was that 90% of students with disabilities were considered to be not reaching proficiency in math, and 84% were considered to not be reacing proficiency in reading. Also, the two ethinicities that are further behind than their peers are African American and Hispanic students. Asian students are the most proficient ethinicity at this school, followed by Caucasian students. It is evident that by these statistics that NGMS is not preparing their students approperiately for their future, and they will probably face many obstacles in high school because they are not where they should be academically.
2. Name of Indicator: ACCOUNTABILITY
Summary Statement: NGMS is barely meeting its targets for the No Child Left Behind Act. With the exception of students with disabilities, this school met its target in the mathematics category. However, the majority of students did not meet the language arts target. Caucasians are the only ethnicity that are meeting both of the targets, which is disappointing because there is also a decent Hispanic and African American population in the school. Both Hispanic and educationally disadcantaged students are meeting the math requirement, but not the language arts requirement. Students with disabilities are the only group that is not meeting either, and unfortunately, is not even close to the target. I am not sure how this score would compare to other schools, because this could reflect some bias in the test. However, the good news is that NGMS met and went above its participation target. Even though these scores indicate that its students are a little behind, this school was considered to make adequate yearly progress. Furthermore, NGMS was a little behind compared to performance progress in the state of Rhode Island, but not by a significant amount. This data allows us to conclude that NGMS is meeting its NCLB requirements, but just barely.
3. Name of Indicator: STUDENTS' POV
Data:
Summary statement:
4. Name of Indicator: TEACHING PRACTICES
Data:
Summary statement:
B. SALT Reports
In addition to survey data reported in Information Works, the SALT Surveys and the SALT visit report provides an "on the ground" description of what a group of visiting evaluators found while visiting the school for several days. After learning more about the SALT cycle from the link above, review the most recent report for your school and summarize what you find:Data of last SALT visit: 2006 - 2007
Notes from Report:
- The majority of teachers have taught for 11-20 years.
- The percentage of teachers who responded that students receive instruction in writing skills is 61%.
Summary statement: